AutoblogGreen

wow. looks a million times better than the prius. a million.

Reply

It does look way nicer than a Prius, but I think this is a 2 seat sporty car. Not exactly a prius fighter. It is the modern CRX. This is a car I might buy depending on what is in the production model.

Reply

Let's hope Honda actually grows some guts and doesn't dilute the production model from the concept. I recall Jaguar's cx-f looking quite dapper as a concept and then a completely turd burgling as a production car.

I'd trade in my good-looking gas guzzling sports car for a more attractive hybrid... it's just that every hybrid looks like a monkey crafted it out of playdough.

Reply

So 2009 brings us a new Prius, and a Honda Prius fighter (or two), and somewhere around the same time the Chevy Volt hits the streets too (and who knows what else)? Methinks I need to REALLY try to hold off buying my next car for a couple of years, as it looks like things will be very interesting soon.

Reply

Still looks like a Mercury Cougar from the side to me. Sorry.

Reply

Regarding Takanobu's concern about the battery weight- can someone please comment on the relative weight difference between an ICE and batteries?

Reply

There is NO WAY the production vehicle (at least in the US) will look this way. People here can't handle it frankly.

Want an example? Look at the Civic Type R in Europe and the SI here. The Euro version looks so unique, so sharp...the one here, while not bad...looks like a turd compared to the other one.

Reply

It's looking at me...

Reply

Sorry, a two door coupe is not going to take sales away from the 4 door hatchback Prius.

Reply

hopefully the Audi A1 will launch in 2009 here in the States too.

Reply

Folks, the car in the picture is not the Prius fighter but the CR-Z sports car!!

But to go along with some in this discussion: "Hell yeah! Honda needs to grow some balls and really push to make the CR-Z their Prius fighter."

ROTFLMAO. Man that's funny.

The article says "details are sketchy" on the Prius fighter right? You think the details are sketchy but they've got a crystal clear picture???

But making hybrid sports cars seems like a fantastic idea to me. Since they tend to be driven harder, probably a little more braking force to capture as energy, I'd think. Anyway, hybridizing seems to me to make sense for pretty much any car, it seems to me a great "incremental" improvement technology in the auto engine.

But as to Honda's Prius fighter, folks you have no idea what it looks like, this article does not tell you at all, other than what you'd expect: "dedicated hybrid family sedan." So once again: does that pic look like a sedan to anyone????? Do car enthusiasts read or just look at pictures?? Inquiring minds want to know...

Reply

@Dan

I hope they dilute it a fair bit.

19" tires are insanely expensive. I want a sporty economy car like the CRX, not hyper expensive to maintain sports car wannabee.

The car looks cool, but it has massive blind spots from the tiny glass area.

On the interior, something from reality would be nice, as well as a manual shit transmission.

So dilute it a lot with a realistic interior, shifter, normal size wheels and windows and I would seriously consider this as my next car. My 99 will be do for replacement in 2009 even though I only have 45000 miles on it. Getting tired of it. 10 years is a long time to own a car.

Attempt 2.

Reply

"can someone please comment on the relative weight difference between an ICE and batteries?"

To be more accurate, compare the weight of the ICE and fuel tank, with the weight of Batteries and Electric motor. Generally speaking, batteries weigh more than fuel tanks, (except perhaps in some hybrids), and IC engines weight more than electric motors.

For lead acid EVs, the battery and motor weigh several times more than an equivalent (in power and range) ICE and fuel tank. NiMH batteries have nearly 3x the energy density of lead acid, but still will weigh more than the ICE equivalent.

LiIon has 5 to 7 times the energy density of lead acid. The battery pack and motor on the Tesla Roadster weighs in at about 970 lbs, only a few hundred pounds more than the equivalent IC engine and fuel tank. Closer, but not quite there...

But there are batteries under development with much higher energy density than LiIon. Some of the high performance air cells (zinc-air, aluminum-air, or Lithium-air), if perfected and matched with a lightweight motor, will be lighter than any IC engine/fuel tank of equivalent performance.

Reply

Post #12 Snowdog:
You got something against manual transmissions?

D'oh!
Oh, shift!

Reply

Ooops. Typo. I will only buy a car like this if it has a manual transmission.

I do hate automatics though, and especially CVTs which are Vile.

Reply

I wonder if the CRZ will be aimed for higher performance or higher mpg. I hope it'll be for higher mpg, then we can have an Insight 2!

From Honda's comments of PHEVs, it is clear that their next hybrids are not going to be PHEVs. So if a PHEV Prius comes out, the plug-in capability might just make the PHEV Prius a homerun seller again, leaving Honda in its dust; this is assuming that the PHEV Prius doesn't cost too much. If the Prius costs 28k or so, and the Honda hybrid about 20k, alot of people might go for the Honda, especially if the PHEv Prius is limited to only 5-10 miles.

Unless, of course, the Chevy Volt is produced and outshines them both. We'll just wait and see.

Reply

Same here. I want CRZ = Insight 2. Not a "performance" (pointless) hybrid, but a mileage leader, which should be easier in a lightweight small package like the CRZ.

PHEV is also pointless for overall efficiency or cost efficiency as you carry a lot of extra battery Mass to do that and that costs in energy efficiency and dollar efficiency.

I want the smallest/cheapest/lightest battery possible. The CRZ should aim for the lightest weight for decent performance and dynamite gas mileage.

Attempt #2 becaue ABG fail for me 70% of the time.

Reply

Still using Honda's sorry hybrid system.

A Toyota hybrid shuts off it's engine whenever the extra power is not needed. Honda's hybrid is more of an electrical assist than a true hybrid; the engine must be running whenever the car is moving. It does not matter how full the battery is or how slowly the car is going.

Until Honda takes their bad design back to the drawing board, they will always lose the hybrid war to Toyota.

Reply